By Wade Linville –
Coming off road losses to Williamsburg and Goshen to start the season, the Western Brown Broncos played host to the Amelia Barons for their first home game on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
It was a Southern Buckeye Athletic/Academic Conference American Division battle that saw the Western Brown Broncos lead 27-24 at halftime, but it was the Barons rallying back in the second half to escape with a 59-48 win.
The Broncos rose to a 26-21 lead in the second quarter as junior guard Clayton Wolfe drained a shot from beyond the arc. Then it was Western Brown senior Tim Harvey burying one-of-two attempts from the foul line to expand the Bronco lead to 27-21.
Amelia junior Mitch Mentzel buried a three-pointer just before the buzzer to end the first half, trimming the Western Brown lead to three.
The Baron rally began early in the second half, as a steal led to a bucket by Amelia senior Brandon Gaynor trimmed the Bronco lead to 27-26.
What followed was an old fashioned three-point play by senior Ryan Turner that put the Barons on top 29-27 with 6:44 to go in the third quarter.
The Barons went on to outscore the Broncos 20-7 in the third quarter to take a 44-34 lead.
It was Western Brown junior Wyatt Fischer scoring on a reverse to kick off the fourth quarter, followed by a score on a drive by Bronco junior Elijah Smith to cut the Amelia lead to 44-38.
In a close fourth quarter, the Barons were able to outscore the Broncos 15-14 in the frame to secure an 11-point victory.
The Broncos dropped to an 0-3 overall record and a league record of 0-2 with Tuesday’s loss to the Barons.
Amelia rose to 2-0 in league play and held an overall record of 2-2 following Tuesday’s win.
The Broncos were scheduled to face Norwood in a league contest on the road Dec. 16, and they are back on their home court Dec. 20 for a league bout against the Batavia Bulldogs.
AHS   12 12 20 15 – 59
WBHS 14 13  7 14 – 48
Amelia (59): Carr 1 2-2 4, Gaynor 3 3-4 10, Mentzel 1 0-0 3, Weisenhahn 1 0-0 2, Stewart 5 3-3 13, Pyle 1 0-0 2, Meyer 4 3-5 11, Turner 6 2-3 14. Three-pointers: Gaynor 1, Mentzel 1. Team: 22 13-17 59.
Western Brown (48): Wolfe 2 1-2 7, O’Hara 4 0-0 9, Fischer 1 3-4 5, Harvey 0 1-2 1, Nickell 3 0-0 6, Crall 1 4-4 6, Smith 4 0-0 9, Taylor 2 0-0 5. Three-pointers: Wolfe 2, Smith 1, Taylor 1. Team: 17 9-12 48.